See, this is why I love doing Forgotten Hits …
You learn something new all the time …
Even AFTER all this time!!!
(And that includes ME!!!)
Check out these first three postings today …
kk …
Robin Luke Spent His Birthday Talking To Cousin Brucie.
He Wrote "SUSIE DARLIN'" when he was 16 Years Old and His Sister Was 5 Years Old.
It Was Recorded In His Hawaii Apartment. He Sang It Into A Multi-Track Tape Player, Using The Bathroom For An Echo Chamber.
Robin Told Brucie He Used His Sisters Name, Not To Make Any Of His High School Girlfriends Mad.
I Don't Believe Him.
The Story I Heard Was That He Sang It About His Sister, Who Was Very Sick At The Time.
All You Have To Do Is Listen To The Lyrics -- "I STOOD CRYING ALL NIGHT LONG" … "I STOOD WATCHING ALL NIGHT LONG" … "HOPING THAT YOU’D RETURN TO ME."
Happy 81st Birthday To Vito Picone, Lead Singer Of Elegants. "LITTLE STAR" # 1 Hit In 1958.
Vito Said That Gene Roddenberry Told Him That He Thought Of "Star Trek" After Hearing "LITTLE STAR" On The Radio.
Trivia For Your Readers:
What Two Movies Did Vito Picone Briefly Appear In?
FB
That "Star Trek" story's about the dumbest thing I've ever heard!!! (So what ... you'll believe Vito's story about The Elegants' hit "Little Star" ... but you won't believe Robin Luke ... the guy who WROTE "Susie Darlin'" ... when he tells you what the song is ... and is NOT about?!?!)
We talked to Robin Luke about “Susie Darlin’ back in 2010 … and he told us that all those stories about the song being written about his sister being sick or dying is a bunch of bunk. (He even told us that his birthday is really March 20th … and NOT March 19th as it is shown in any number of publications. In fact, we even got Joel Whitburn to change this information in his Top Pop Hits book since it was being confirmed by Robin Luke himself!!!)
I think you’ll find these three pieces very interesting and informative. (Now, of course, I didn’t listen to Cousin Brucie’s show … but even without hearing it, I’m betting that WE got more of the story directly from the source here in Forgotten Hits some twelve years ago!!! Just sayin’!!!)
Check ‘em out and see what you think …
https://forgottenhits60s.blogspot.com/2010/12/robin-luke.html
https://forgottenhits60s.blogspot.com/2010/12/susie-darlin.html
https://forgottenhits60s.blogspot.com/2010/12/still-more-on-susie-darlin.html
>>>You mentioned a very interesting song today, Don't Say You Don't Remember, by Beverly Bremers. A friend of mine who has unfortunately passed on, pointed out to me that that song was recorded in May of 1971, and I don't know why there was such a delay in releasing the song. I heard that she tried to get it released in the summer of 1971, but it just didn't happen. (Sam Ward)
>>>I can’t say for sure but this might be a case where it was first recorded for a minor label that summer but wasn’t picked up by a major label (in this case, Scepter Records) until later. It premiered on The Billboard Hot 100 Pop Singles Chart the week ending December 18th, 1971, and peaked at #15 there in early 1972 during its 16 week chart run. (kk)
As you might remember from a previous discussion in Forgotten Hits, "Don't Say You Don't Remember" on Scepter 12315 debuted on the June 19, 1971, Super Chart at #100 (and appeared on the "Next Ten" list for several other weeks at that time, based on its appearances on the Cash Box and Record World charts. (Meanwhile, it spent six consecutive weeks on Billboard's Bubbling Under chart, beginning with the issue dated June 12, 1971.)
– Randy Price
"Don't Say You Don't Remember" was only released on Scepter Records in May, 1971. It was never issued on a smaller label. It just took seven months to eventually make the Hot 100.
My local station, WAVZ, made Beverly's song a pick hit on May 22, one of the first (now) documented stations to add the song on their weekly Top 60 playlist. It climbed the chart to eventually peak at #2 for two consecutive weeks in July, blocked from #1 by Chase with "Get It On" and then, the Grass Roots with "Sooner Or Later".
I bought "Don't Say You Don't Remember" when it came out and always recall it among the tunes aired during the summer of 1971. It ranked #74 for the year of 1971 on the New Year's Eve countdown. (I still have my handwritten, scribed while broadcast copy of that chart.)
WNHC, another local station, also aired the song, and it went to #3 during the same July time frame.
If you check the ARSA radio chart archive website, you can see "Don't Say You Don't Remember" faired pretty well on the stations that aired the song in the summer of 1971 … most were at least top 20.
WAVZ even added the song again, when it began picking up traction nationally in January, 1972, but it only lasted a few weeks, peaking at #33. I guess the staff there had a short memory!
A version of the song was first issued by the Goggles, recorded for a children's TV show, in February of 1971. The Goggles’ 45, on the Audio Fidelity label, preceded Beverly's rendition on a 45rpm release, even though both were recorded at the same time, according to Jerry Osborne, writer of the Mr. Music column:
Mike Markesich
Wow, you’re not going to get a better timeline explanation than the one Jerry Osborne has outlined above! Amazing.
The only thing I can add to this conversation is The Goggles’ version of this tune … which I never even knew existed until I read all of the above!!! (kk)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7P-lu6pXImM
And check out THIS back story …
>>>Have you ever had a relapse of memory? I haven't located them yet, but I am supposed to have on cassette the complete History of Rock and Roll, which I taped over my radio. Now I am talking about the early 1970's which, I believe, was originally some 48 hours long. I can't remember offhand the DJ who did the series. He has probably passed away by now. Not getting into any sordid details, but I believe he went to prison for a homicide he did. Know who I mean? His name is on the tip of my tongue, but my tongue isn't long enough to see. (lol). Incidentally, a few years later the series would be expanded to some 52 hours. (Larry Neal)
>>>The original series was a Drake-Chenault production. (Thanks to FH Reader David Lewis, I was able to relisten to the entire broadcast a few months ago, as well as the Canadian version that preceded it. They both definitely sound dated … but are still entertaining and informative to say the least. Keep in mind that prior to these programs, nothing like this had ever been attempted before. Gary Theroux, who writes the current editions airing now in circulation all over the world, was involved with the first series as well and conducted a number of these interviews himself.)
It was Bill Drake who narrated the original series, which first launched in 1978. (20/20 hindsight shows this era of the ‘70’s as being the make-up of Classic Rock Radio today! At the time, it was too new to even mention!) You are correct in that Drake passed away in 2008 and Chenault died in 2010. (kk)
Kent,
I also remembered a little while ago who did the voice over for the early 1970-ish History of Rock and Roll. It was DJ Humble Harv Miller, who I believe was working at the time for KHJ out in California, then known at the time as "Boss" radio.
Larry
I’m thinking that must have been something else … or perhaps their own version of the series (???) Maybe they offered it up to various stations to dub in their own narration (???) All I know is that Bill Drake is the one who narrated the nationally syndicated version. (kk)
This whole idea puzzled me … so I reached out to Gary Theroux for a much clearer understanding of how all of this transpired way back when.
And here’s what he told me.
(Turns out Larry and I EACH had some part of the story right … now Gary ties up all the loose ends!)
Read on …
Hi, Kent -
The 1969 version of THE HISTORY OF ROCK 'N' ROLL was assembled at KHJ in Los Angeles and then syndicated out, first to the RKO General stations and then others. Some stations, though, wanted their own local hosts of the show -- so the program elements plus a script were sent to those stations. The results were uneven at best.
Humble Harv narrated the most popular syndicated version, which is what I heard broadcast over WLS in 1970 when I was a college freshman and airchecked it. It inspired me to create my own version of the concept, "The Evolution of Rock" series, for my ISU campus station WGLT. Little could I imagine then that six years later Bill Drake would hire me to completely rebuild, from scratch, the "rockumentary."
My first choice for host was, of course, Humble Harv. However, when I told that to Drake, he explained that Harv -- unbeknownst to me -- was a murderer! According to Bill, while Harv was on the air over KHJ, his wife used to call the studio line and then set the phone down on their bedroom end table so the sounds of her noisily "entertaining" other men could torment Harv. One day in 1971, Harv pre-recorded his show and, while it was being broadcast, returned home and caught his wife in the act. Shots rang out, his wife was killed and the next thing anyone knew Humble Harv was in prison.
After his release, Harv tried to restart his radio career and partially succeeded, even hosting a syndicated doo-wop show he sent me some samples of. He had a great, compelling voice and certainly knew the material, but Drake refused to re-hire him. Drake-Chenault's general manager (or should I say "mangler") demanded that I hire radio DJ Jerry Carroll, who at the time was starring in a series of over-the-top Crazy Eddie TV commercials. Jerry had a knack for rattling off the names of electronic components which almost made their names make sense ("the Sansooie X-11 two-ten A interface with stereo doo-hickies and custom B-O filters...") Over my objection, Jerry was brought in and actually voicetracked a couple of sample hours (which still exist in my archives.) The problem was that when Jerry read real coherent copy, he used the same style he had on his annoying hard-sell TV spots, rendering every line of my scripts meaningless! I sat with Bill while he listened to the results and four minutes in, Drake said, "Get rid of this guy."
We were working on a tight deadline and needed a replacement fast. I offered up a few names, including Wink Martindale's, but Drake turned the idea of Wink down because of Wink's association with a rival syndicator, Watermark. Finally, as Bill had been voicing station IDs for most of Drake-Chenault's client stations, I said, "Well, why don't YOU just narrate it?" Bill broke into a huge grin and replied, "I was waiting for someone to ask." And that's how Bill Drake became the narrator.
The irony, of course, is that after I acquired the rights to the HISTORY OF ROCK 'N' ROLL trademark, the first person I invited in as narrator was Wink Marindale -- a role he fulfills beautifully today.
Bill Drake and I remained good friends for the rest of his life and even served together on the board of The Hit Parade Hall of Fame. (So did Wink Martindale.) As it turned out, I was the last person Bill e-mailed before leaving home for the hospital for the final time.
Gary Theroux
"The History of Rock 'n' Roll"
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photo: Bill Drake, chief engineer Mark Ford and Gary Theroux
in Gary's office at Drake-Chenault Enterprises (1978)
Now you’re not going to find oldies content like THIS anywhere else!!! (kk)
